2008 Robot Hall of Fame

The Robot Hall of Fame honors the highest accomplishments of robots in science and science fiction. Their first group of robots inducted into the Hall of Fame in November 2003 represents the best of imagined and real robots. The Hall of Fame celebrates landmark scientific achievements as well as applauding the creative impact of fictional robots. In spring 2009 The Robot Hall of Fame will have a permanent home at the Carnegie Science Center as part of their new roboworld robotics exhibit.

2008 Inductees

LEGO MINDSTORMS:

This building set combined programming bricks with electric motors, sensors and structural parts to create robots and other interactive systems. This building set combined programming bricks with electric motors, sensors and structural parts to create robots and other interactive systems.

RAIBERT HOPPER:

Experiments with this one-legged device in the early 1980’s showed how a machine such as Data might someday walk with the agility of a human.

NavLab 5:

This robot was one of a series of autonomous vehicles (based around a Chevrolet Lumina)developed at Carnegie Mellon.

Lt. CMDR DATA:

Portrayed by actor Brent Spiner during the 1987-1994 run of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” Data was the chief operations officer of the U.S.S Enterprise and possessed both super strength and an encyclopedic memory.

2006 Inductees

AIBO:

In Japanese, AIBO means “companion.” In English, AIBO is an acronym for “Artificial Intelligence BOt”. In any language, the Sony AIBO represents the most sophisticated product ever offered in the consumer robot marketplace.

SCARA:

The first SCARA robot was created as a revolutionary prototype in 1978, in the laboratory of Professor Hiroshi Makino, at Yamanashi University in Japan. The 4-axis SCARA was designed as no other robot arm at the time. Its simplicity was brilliant … with less motion it could do more, with high speed and precision.

DAVID:

The character of David, in Steven Spielberg’s movie Artificial Intelligence:AI (2001) challenges all of our preconceptions about robots. David is an android that looks like the world’s most adorable ten-year old boy, with advanced artificial intelligence and the unique potential for an emotional relationship with a human being.

MARIA:

The robot MARIA stands apart as one of the only female robotic images of early science fiction. She appears in Metropolis, a science fiction film produced in Germany in 1927. The entire film is dominated by technology, with a mixture of images from the 1920s and futuristic devices.

GORT:

The robot Gort is one of the most memorable pop culture images from the Cold War era. Introduced in the 1951 movie classic The Day the Earth Stood Still, Gort comes to Earth as the killer robot bodyguard of the mysterious spaceman, Klaatu, who is on a mission of peace.

2004 Inductees

ASIMO:

ASIMO was introduced to the world October 31st, 2000. This engaging humanoid robot is the result of fifteen years of research and endeavor by Honda Motor Co., Ltd., a company dedicated to expanding and enhancing human mobility.

SHAKEY:

Shakey began in 1966 at the Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International). Over years of research, this ungainly "bot" developed into a milestone application of artificial intelligence and robotics.

ASTRO BOY:

ASTRO BOY, originally named Tetsuwan Atom, was created in 1951 by Japanese cartoonist and animator Osamu Tezuka, only six years after the end of World War Two.

ROBBY THE ROBOT:

Robby, the Robot made his first appearance in the 1956 MGM movie, Forbidden Planet. Robby is the film's most memorable character and responsible for the cult status the movie enjoys.

C-3PO:

Of all the mythic STAR WARS movie characters, the one most like us is ironically a robot ...C-3PO.

2003 Inductees

HAL:

The HAL 9000 Computer is a non-human and central character in the film by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke - 2001: A Space Odyssey.

MARS PATHFINDER SOJOURNER ROVER:

The Mars Pathfinder Sojourner was the first rover to explore the surface of Mars. For the first time, a thinking robot equipped with sophisticated laser eyes and automated programming reacted to unplanned events on the surface of another planet.

R2D2:

R2-D2 is the favorite robot of generations of Star Wars fans. It combines many of the most desirable attributes of synthetic creatures and as well as those of a perfect servant. His little 0.96-meter frame is packed with all sorts of tools that make him a great starship mechanic and computer interface specialist.

UNIMATE:

In 1961 the first industrial robot, Unimate, joined the assembly line at a General Motors plant to work with heated die-casting machines. Source: Robot Hall of Fame, viewed April 24, 2008 Find out more about and visit the Robot Hall of Fame at the Carnegie Science Center.